Xros Tales
by OrangeTsundere
Summary: A story of how the Digimon characters from Xros Wars lived after their adventure was over.
1. Prologue

The three original members of Xros Heart lay soundly under the shaded tree, quiet filling the air. Zenjirou had an annoyed expression on his face as he glared silently at his kendo stick, and Akari slept soundly with her head on Taiki's shoulder. Taiki himself was staring at the clouds, lost in his own thoughts. As he blinked out of his daydream, he noticed Akari and blushed slightly. He had always liked her, since they had met as kids, but he had never said anything. He wasn't good with that sort of thing. A low whisper came out of his Xros Loader, and he reached down to pick up the red contraption. "Oi, Taiki?" His partner, Shoutmon, asked quietly. "Can I relax out there too?" Taiki nodded with a smile, releasing the red dragon-like Digimon from the Xros Loader. Shoutmon sighed, laying in the grass with his yellow scarf billowing behind him. Akari stirred, immediately sitting up as she realized how she had been sleeping. With a bright blush she turned away, chocolate brown eyes sleepy.

"Morning, Akari," Taiki said, his gray eyes gentle as he watched Akari yawn. She gave a halfhearted nod and picked up a book, trying to hide her face. Shoutmon grinned, and Cutemon along with Ballistamon jumped out of their Xros Loaders. Omegamon had given Akari and Zenjirou Xros Loaders too, after he had recovered his strength. Akari's was a light blossom pink and Zenjirou's was orange. Cutemon and Ballistamon had happily agreed to being their partners, and stayed with them. Cutemon twitched his ears to beckon his friends, and the Digimon gathered under another tree nearby.

"We need to get them together, kyu!" Cutemon declared as soon as they were out of earshot.

"They are together," Shoutmon pointed out bluntly, motioning to the tree. "They are sitting there, next to each other."

Ballistamon let out a short mechanical laugh. "Cutemon doesn't mean like that, gnnah. He means as more than friends, gnnah."

Shoutmon still looked puzzled, but simply shrugged without further argument. "Okay... Then what's the plan, Cutemon?" he asked the bunny, who looked about ready to jump out of his fur.

"Valentines Day is coming up, kyu! Even Shoutmon must know what goes on then, kyuuu!" Cutemon exclaimed with an expectant glance at Shoutmon.

He slowly blinked, then said, "Should I?" Cutemon sweatdropped and fainted, getting recalled to the Xros Loader. Ballistamon shook his head hopelessly and returned too. Shoutmon simply smiled, humming softly into his microphone.


	2. Chapter 1: A Somewhat Typical Morning

Taiki groaned as his alarm clock started to ring, slowly raising himself up on his elbows to turn it off. What a restless night. His dreams had been wild. He had dreamed about when Lillithmon had attacked the castle where Bastemon lived, and she had taken Akari hostage... Well, he had to get to school now. Zenjirou would probably ask for a kendo rematch at recess. In all the twelve years of his life, no one had faced him (and lost) more in kendo than Zenjirou. He quickly got dressed into his usual clothes, a red shirt with yellow markings and beige pants, then grabbed his backpack and ran downstairs, grabbing his Xros Loader off the counter. It was okay to keep it there- his mother could see Digimon now too, and often asked ChibiKamemon to help her around the house. He ran to the door and grabbed it open before skidding down the steps and starting to run.

"Taiki, if you got up earlier, you wouldn't have to run to school every day!" Shoutmon commented from the Xros Loader as Taiki raced down the street.

"Like you help!" Taiki yelped back, swerving around the corner. He ran into the classroom gasping, and took his seat.

A student from his class leaned over to Taiki, whispering excitedly. "I heard that we're getting a new student today!" he said, his glasses reflecting the sun.  
>Taiki squinted at him, slowly nodding. <em>I wonder who it is? Will they be my friend?<em> he wondered, looking up at the teacher, who was starting to open the door.

"As most of you already know, we have a new student today," the teacher said in a low, flat voice. "She will be here in a moment." The class started whispering again. Now they knew the new student was a girl.

"Hello everyone!" A voice echoed through the classroom. Taiki looked up and his eyes widened.

The teacher's cough broke the silence, and he gruffly said, "Go sit next to Taiki." Some boys groaned in disappointment as the girl took the seat next to Taiki.

She smiled at him, winking. "Don't be so surprised. It was bound to happen sometime," she said, cupping her hands over her mouth so the teacher couldn't see her talking.

It was Akari.

"A-Akari!" Taiki spluttered, flustered. "I didn't expect you here." He shuffled his feet and looked around the classroom to avoid her deep brown eyes. The glares he was given were much worse than blushing, he decided, and finally met her gaze.

"My dad found a job here again, and we moved back," Akari explained, her face feeling warm. _Who turned on the heater? This room is scorching,_ she thought to herself. Cutemon snickered within her Xros Loader, and Akari flicked it, blushing.

Taiki gazed at her, not knowing what to say. It was one thing to meet sometimes on weekends, but seeing her every day in school? Hastily looking down into his math book, he started to doodle. _This school year just got a whole lot tougher._

Zenjirou looked up from his notebook, smirking. "Do you hear that, Ballistamon?" he whispered to his partner, who let out a contented 'gnnah'. "Taiki and Akari are in the same class- they're in seats next to each other! This is perfect! Don't you think, Nene?" he asked the girl to the left of him.

Nene's violet eyes flicked up at Zenjirou for a moment, then back to her math work. "They're good friends already," she said in a voice like a gentle breeze, picking up her yellow pencil. "So it shouldn't be hard." As Zenjirou nodded rapidly, happy that they had agreed, a low cough interrupted him. Kiriha was glaring at him from across the room- no, glaring wasn't the right word. It was more like a death wish. He gulped.

Kiriha's icy blue eyes almost pierced through Zenjirou. _If he talks to Nene one more time, I'm setting Mailbirdramon on him, _he thought furiously, and a metallic chuckle coming from his Xros Loader told him that his partner, the steel pheonix Mailbirdramon, understood. "I didn't ask your opinion," he hissed at the dark blue Xros Loader as the laughing continued. He blushed a pale red as Nene glanced at him, and her own Xros Loader seemed to be emitting laughter as well.

Nene turned back to her notebook, her pencil shaking in her hand. "Nene, are you okay? Do you feel sick?" Sparrowmon asked her, worried. The girl shook her head and smiled weakly, putting the lavender Xros Loader in the desk. A whacking noise began in the Xros Loader, and Sparrowmon's voice appeared again. "Mervamon! You laughed at her! How could you?"

Nene could barely hold in a laugh as she listened. _Come on bell, save us, we're dying of boredom here, _she thought, starting on the last problem on the math sheet. She hated algebra... Then the recess bell rang, and she pushed herself away from the desk. Making sure no one was looking, she took her Xros Loader out from her desk and walked over to her locker, starting to take out her snack.

On the other side of the classroom, Taiki and Akari were chatting. "So how's Cutemon?"

"As annoying as ever."

"I'm not annoying, kyuuu!"

A girl from Taiki's class walked over to them. "Akari-san! Why don't I give you a tour of the school?"

Akari smiled at her, nodding. "That would be great, thanks." she said, waving to Taiki as she walked away. Taiki waved slowly back, sighing, then started walking towards the door of the classroom, prepared to see Zenjirou facing him with a kendo stick. Instead, some boys from his class were waiting, glaring at him.

Their "leader", a scrawny boy with glasses, poked Taiki. "Hey, Taiki. How do you know the new girl so well. Is she your _girlfriend_?"

Taiki nearly choked on his apple, then answered. "No, she's not! She's just a childhood friend. That's all, and who cares anyway?" He walked briskly away from them and grabbed a basketball, shooting halfheartedly at the hoop.

Meanwhile, Akari was facing about the same conversation. "I'm telling you! Taiki's my best friend," she said for the fifth time. _Annoying people... Can''t they just back off? _

Her Xros Loader glowed, and as Akari let out a gasp and covered it with her hands, Cutemon jumped out. "Leave Akari alone, kyu!" he yelled, hot pink eyes fierce.

One of the girls sneered. "How cute, a talking bunny. Anyway, Akari-san," she said, leaning in close. "Stay away from Taiki-kun if you know what's good for you!" She walked away, her friends giving her nasty looks. A yelp arose from the girls a moment later, and they hurried away. "Eeek! That bunny talked! Actually talked!"

Akari sat down, desolately looking at her shoes. Cutemon sat next to her. "I'm with you, kyu! I'll stay with you, kyuu!" he promised, jumping into her backpack. "I'm a stuffie, kyu! A stuffed bunny, kyuuu!"

Akari smiled, stroking the bunny Digimon's pink fur. "Thanks, Cutemon. You're the best," she said, and Cutemon let out a happy 'kyuu!' "Now let's get back to class. I hear the bell."


	3. Chapter 2: Panic

Zenjirou was ignoring Taiki. _Getting beaten for the 100th time in a row... grrr! How can he be so good? _he thought angrily, kicking a rock.

His Xros Loader flashed and Ballistamon's voice floated toward him. "Don't let your anger get control of you, gnaah." Zenjirou still continued to grumble, but left the rocks alone. Ballistamon let out a mechanical sigh, hoping this didn't last too long.

Taiki sat in his seat, staring down quietly at his empty desk. Shoutmon stood beside him in full form, his headphones connected to Taiki's ipod. "Don't fret," he rasped. "It'll blow over, Taiki. We got through Bagramon, you can get through this!" He stamped his foot on the ground in emphasis.

Taiki sighed, a faint smile appearing on his face. "You're right, Shoutmon," he said, taking out his pencil. "I just need to focus on school, right?" Shoutmon winked, recalling himself to the Xros Loader. Taiki turned away, gray eyes stormy like the sea. _I can't focus more on school. Shoutmon knows I can't, he's just trying to cheer me up. _

"You know me too well, Taiki! Try to focus, at least. Your mom will notice something if your grades slip, straight-A general." Shoutmon scolded from the red Xros Loader, blue eyes thick with determination. "I'll fight with you for any reason, Taiki! Oh, wait... We don't want to beat up Akari or Cutemon..." He continued rambling, lying down in the white crystallization of the Xros Loader's indoors.

Taiki nodded slowly, thinking to himself, then gasped. "What the... Shoutmon! Since when could you read my mind?" He blinked, feeling his forrhead.

"Since I met you," the red lizard replied, oblivious. "Didn't I tell you that we were soul brothers, Taiki?" Taiki blew a strand of hair from his face, gray eyes unusually dull. He didn't respond. "Taiki? Taiki!" Shoutmon started to scream, and his partner fell to the ground off his chair, cheeks a dull maroon and breathing ragged. "Baka, Taiki! Why didn't you tell me you were sick? You shouldn't have helped the water polo team yesterday! I told you that you would catch a cold!" he nearly sobbed. "I need to tell Akari!" Straightening up, he dodged past a few surprised students toward a red haired girl standing in the doorway with a pink rabbit clutching her backpack. "Akari! Get over here!" he yelled to her.

Akari turned around in surprise, almost falling back as Shoutmon ran into her, breathing rapidly. "What's wrong, Shouto?" she asked, using Shoutmon's nickname.

"It's... Taiki..." Shoutmon gasped, struggling to get up. "Fever... hurt..."

Eyes wide, Akari rushed passed him and into the classroom, seeing Taiki on the ground. Running to him, she felt his forehead. "Taiki..." she murmured, picking him up.

"Akari, where are you taking him?" Shoutmon asked curiously.

"To the nurse's office," Akari said quietly. "I hope she can help." She kept walking, carrying Taiki through the thankfully empty corridors. Taiki stirred, letting out a confused mumble. "It's okay... I hope." Akari said, and he closed his eyes again.

As she walked into the office, the nurse looked up. "Hello there, Akari... wait, who are you holding? Taiki! What happened, Akari?"

Akari ducked her head to avoid the flurry of questions, placing Taiki on the blue bed in the corner. "Shou- I mean, his friend told me something weird was going on, and uh..." She was a bad liar. "He felt warm, then he fainted, so I brought him here and didn't see any teachers on the way," she babbled.

The nurse nodded, holding up her hand to stop Akari's frantic stream of words. "Okay, I'll try to help. Hmm... His forehead does feel warm. I think he has a cold... How did he overexert himself like this?"

"Helping the water polo team!" Akari answered instantly, blushing slightly as the nurse gave her an odd look. "A-anyway, I should get back to class." She half walked half ran out the door.

As she disappeared down the hallway, Taiki woke, letting out a spluttering cough. After seeing a flash from the corner of his eye and sensing a cold-blooded presence, he turned to see Shoutmon. "H-Hello," he said, his voice croaking like a frog's. "W-Was Akari here? i thought I saw her..." He groaned, clutching his throat.

"Yeah, she was here... Baka!" Taiki yelped as he was hit on the head by a shiny metallic microphone. "Baka, baka, baka! I told you not to help the team! That you'd get sick! But no, Mr. Idiot went ahead and did it anyway!" He started whacking him with the microphone as he spoke. "You. Should. Listen. To. Shoutmon. Not. Ignore. Him. Like. An. Idiot. Would." He looked satisfied after that, recalling himself to the Xros Loader. A whisper of "Baka!" came from the digivice, and Taiki smiled.

"I know that you just care, Shouto." Taiki said, closing his eyes and smiling. "But you're to stubborn to admit it." A muffled complaint erupted from the red device, but he just sighed. "Wake me up... later..." He murmured, a strand of hair in his face as he turned away, breathing slowly.

Akari sighed, staring wistfully at Taiki's desk. He still wasn't back from the nurse's office, and she didn't exactly like this. Not at all. Turning back to her paper, she wrote a few more characters in a messy scrawl before looking at his desk again. Her face was flushed, and she could almost hear what Zenjirou, Nene, and probably half the rest of the class were thinking. But who cared? Fighting back a sob, she wrote a bit more, trying to appear expressionless.

But that's not her way.


	4. Chapter 3: A New Xros

**Gomenasai, minna! I've been really busy, and between school projects, homework, tests, and classes I haven't had time to write… **

**Does anyone have any tips on how I can write better? I know I'm lacking. **

Taiki moaned, blinking his eyes open sleepily. Pushing his messy brown hair away from his eyes with his goggles, he struggled to sit up, only managing with Shoutmon's help. "What time is it, Shoutmon?" he muttered distractedly, coughing weakly and getting up on uncoordinated legs. Immediately he fell back down, letting out a quiet gasp of pain.

Shoutmon let out an audible snarl of disappointment before looking curiously at a pink shadow hovering by the door. "I know you're there, Cutemon," he rasped, blue eyes then flitting towards another shadow. "And you too, Akari? Is school out?" He stood up and helped Taiki do the same, this time more stable.

Akari walked in the office with Cutemon in her arms, a concerned look shadowing her face. "Are you feeling okay, Taiki?" she asked quietly, ignoring the red dragon beside him. Her fingers toyed with Cutemon's scarf while she stood, brown eyes tinged with pale light. "Yeah, school's out. It ended five minutes ago. D-Do you want me to walk you home?" she stuttered nervously, stroking her Digimon's soft fur. Shoutmon let out a low rumble that seemed to consist of half annoyance and half knowing.

Taiki gave Akari a weak smile that brightened the office considerably, in her eyes. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, that'd be great, Akari," he said, a happy tone filling his tone. He took a step forward, trembling visibly.

Shoutmon sighed, knowing his small size wouldn't help his partner now. "Where's Sparrowmon when you need her?" he muttered to himself. "Her Jet Sparrow would have worked… But I suppose another Digimon would work." He turned to Taiki, bright blue eyes shining in determination. "Time for a new Xros, my general. DigiXros me with Beelzemon!"

Taiki nodded, slumping back down on the bed-like couch in the office. "Digi-Xros! Shoutmon!"

"Yeah!"

"Beelzemon!"

"Understood!"

"DIGI-XROS!" A chorus of three voices echoed through the room, and Akari winced at the fierce light pouring from Taiki's red Xros Loader. After the flash cleared, a proud- looking winged creature hovered in the center of the room.

"Digi-Xros! Shoutmon Darkness Mode!" the figure announced, blue eyes flashing from the holes in its Sandoria Mask. Shoutmon had grown at least two feet in this Xros, and had a cannon instead of one hand. Dark majestic wings were spread to the sides from his back, which was plated in metal. His tail had a black ribbon wrapped around its tip, and his skin was now afaint purple. It almost reminded Taiki of the color his friend had turned after being stung by Flymon… But he didn't have to worry this time. Shoutmon and Beelzemon were in no way evil- even as Ba'almon, Beelzemon was only searching for the one who had destroyed his friends' thoughts and cursed them. When Lillithmon finally met her end, Beelzemon had decided to die too… Taiki had missed the warrior terribly, and was overjoyed when the Code Crown brought him back.

Now, as he and Akari flew on Shoutmon Darkness Mode's back through the streets, he couldn't help but feel completely at peace, surrounded by his friends. Akari was hugging him from behind while staring at the ground, and the general of Xros Heart's face slowly reddened. He doubted she was doing it on purpose though, most likely her fear of heights… _Wait, didn't Zenjirou have a fear of heights? _Taiki groaned inwardly. Turning around quietly, he saw the Akari had fallen asleep. A soft smile dusted his cherry red face, and with one finger he swept her loose her out of her face. She just smiled and muttered something in her sleep. As Shoutmon flew by Akari's house, he stopped just at the window. Taiki carried the sleeping girl inside and lay her gently on her bed, where she started to hug her pillow. Leaning down and seeing her as she slept, Taiki just couldn't resist. "Good night," he whispered, kissing her gently on the cheek. He then stood up, walking away with an almost regretful expression on his face. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he climbed back on Shoutmon's back. He had to get home before his parents started to worry.

**(Better than the last chapters? I know they're kinda random, I don't really have a plot.)**


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